Switch Shopping

I’ve been looking for a Switch since launch, though I haven’t been looking that hard. I’ve actually seen the one with the gray joycons at least twice recently, but I was holding out for the neon red and blue one. And I got it today! It reminded me of my, let’s say diverse experiences with different retailers and asking about the Switch.

Toys”R”Us

After seeing no switches on shelves here several times, on one visit I see exactly two: one of each color. Suspicious, I ask the nearest employee, “Do you guys have Switches, or are those just display boxes?” He explains apologetically that they are display boxes, and immediately starts giving me advice on when they tend to come in to have a chance at one. Which I appreciate, but ignore, because I wasn’t looking that hard.

GameStop

The first time I peeked in at Game Stop (which I do rarely, I really am not a fan of their store), they had a hand-written sign saying “Sorry, we are sold out of Switches.” Going back one weekend, there is no such sign, and there are several boxes on the wall. Highly skeptical, I ask, “do you guys actually have Switches?” The cashier condescendingly tells me that no, of course not, and basically says good luck finding one. He tells me they get a handful every few weeks and they’re sold out within half an hour. Basically, he tells me not to come back. Which is what I wanted to do anyway! So I guess this was a win.

Target

“Are those Switches real?” “Yeah.” “Nice, a lot of stores have empty boxes on display.” “We don’t display empty boxes.” He said that last one with a hint of disgust at the idea. While it’s not my primary game shopping store (I need those 20% discounts!) I have to say, the employees at Target, at least where I live, tend to be the most personable, least condescending, and often the best-informed across all the gaming stores. I’ve had interesting gaming conversations with a diverse cast over the years. And it’s also where I found my Playstation VR back when that was still hard to locate.

Which is all just a long-winded way of saying, Target is pretty good, and GameStop sucks.